Well casing cementing plug and valve device



R. C. BAKER WELL CASING CEMENTING PLUG AND VALVE DEVICE Original Filed Jan. l2, 1948 1! 194.. i m VQ V 4 6 6 0 C 9. w 62 2 2 J 4 A 6 .6 5 3 99 0 3 j 0 4 6 666556563 j) j s f o VV ./\Km\\ r /J/ 7 U7 .wlrllll 1 5 l 4 0o d a y 6 f l 66,66%, [{1 K /K L w L m@ EA u 6. C 65 a a N55 a@ M j 5 A Dec. 15, 1953 I N VEN TOR.

,477- TOQA/EYS Patented Dec. 15, y1953 VJELL CASING CEMENTING PLUG AND VALVE DEVICE Reuben C. Baker, Coalinga, Calif., assigner to Baker Cil Tools, lne., Vernon,l Calif., a corpo ration of California @riginal application January 12, 1948, Serial No. M343. Divided and this application November la, 1949, Serial No. 127,187

4 Claims. (Cl. 16S-d) The present invention relates to subsurface wel plug and valve devices adapted for downward movement through well conduits in the periorm ance of certain desirable functions therein.

|I'his application is a division of my application for Ported Cementing Apparatus," Serial No. '1,843, filed January 12, 1948, now Patent No. 2,6d2,510.

.an object of the present invention is to provide an improved valve device adapted for downward movement, through a casing or similar string located in a well bore, into engagement with a cooperable seat to close the passage through the casing string.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve device adapted for downward movement through a well casing into engagement with a cooperable valve seat, in which the device is maintained substantially centered in the well casing to insure its proper coaction with the seat.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combination cementing plug and valve member which can maintain iluent cernentitious materials and other iiuid materials in a well casing separate from each other, and which can also engage a valve seat, as one provided in sleeve valve member, to close the passage through the seat and effect hydraulic shifting of the sleeve valve member in the casing string'. In a more limited sense, an object of the invention is to provide a combination top cementing plug and valve member.

This invention possesses many other advantages, has other objects which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of a forni in which it may be embodied. This foi-in is shown in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specication. It will now be described in detail, for the purpose of illustraing the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that such detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope oi the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings;

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a well casing having one or more ports, with the ports closed against flow of fluid between the interior and exterior of the casing string;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l, disclosing certain plugs coacting` with the sleeve valve portions of the apparatus, with the ports reclosed after having been opened.

As shown in the drawings, a casing collar A is provided at an intermediate point in a string of casing positioned in a well bore. The upper end of the collar may be threadedly attached to an adjacent upper casing section B, while its lower end may be similarly secured to the upper pin lil of a lower casing section C. The collar is so positioned in the casing string as to insure its location in the well bore at the point where it is desired to eject cement slurry, or other sementitious material, from the casing string into the surrounding well annulus.

The main portion of the collar A consists of a tubular member i l, which, as disclosed in the drawings, is made of two parts it, lz? to facilitate assembly of the apparatus. The upper threaded bore portion l2, which is secured to t1 e upper casing section B, is suitably attached, as by means of coengaging threads ill to the lower portion i3 of the tubular member. For the purpose of discharging uids from the interior oi the casing string and collar to the exterior thereof, the tu bular member is provided with one or more lateral ports l 5. These ports, however, are closed against passage of iiuids when the casing string is run in the well bore. rIhev can he opened to permit cement slurry and other fluids to be discharged therethrough; and they can he again closed to prevent further passage of fluids between the interior and exterior oi the collar.

In order to accomplish the above-noted pur poses, a lower sleeve valve member i@ is disposed in the tubular member H. This sleeve valve member is provided with spaced ring grooves il, i8 carrying suitable side seals i 9, 12e such as rubn ber 0 rings, for preventing leakage of fluids in both longitudinal directions around the e zteror of the sleeve and out through the ports, l The lower seal ring 2e is engageable with an inturned ilange 2l on the tubular member il, whereas the upper seal ring E9 is with the inner surface of an upper sleeve valve roember 22, which is initially maintained above the ports l5, but which can be shifted downwardly to close these ports. This upper member is made of two parts, including a lower tubular sleeve preferably made of a dicultly drillable material, such as steel and a readily drillable upper portion 2t, of magnesium, aluminum, and the like, piloted within the steel member, and ving a shoulder 25 engaging the upper end of the latter. Leakage between these two portions is prevented by a suitable side seal 2e, such as an O ring, located. in an external groove El in the drillaole portion and engaging the inner wall of the steel portion 23.

As indicated above, the upper sleeve valve member 22 is disposed initially in an upper position clear of the ports I5 (see Fig. 1). The two portions 23, 24 of this valve are held together and in their upper location b-y one or more frangible devices, in the form of shear screws 28, extending through them and through the tubular member II. Disruption of the screws 28 enables the upper sleeve Valve member 22 to be shifted downwardly to a position closing the ports I5.

The lower sleeve valve member I6 is nested or piloted within the upper sleeve valve member 22, with its side .seals I9, disposed on opposite sides of the ports I5. The lower member I6 is held in such position initially by one or more shear screws extending through the tubular member II and threaded into the lower sleeve member. These shear screws dispose the lower seal ring in contact with the inturned ange 2I, preferably a short distance above the lower end of the latter. Below the iiange 2|, the lower sleeve valve has an enlarged diameter portion for slidable engagement with the enlarged bore SI of the tubular member.

The upper portion 52 of the lower sleeve valve is reduced in external diameter to provide an annular space 33 in conjunction with the upper sleeve valve 22 through which cement slurry, and other iiuent substances, may flow when the lower sleeve valve has been shifted downwardly to port opening position. The lower sleeve valve i6 preferably abuts the drillable portion 24 of the upper sleeve valve, in order to hold the overall dimensions of the combined sleeve valve structure to a minimum.

rIvhe central bore 34 through the upper drillable portion 2li of the upper sleeve valve is preferably tapered inwardly in a downward direction, merging smoothly into a corresponding bore 35 in the lower sleeve valve IE. In fact, the lower bore 55 forms a continuation of the upper bore 34.

The collar A is made up in the casing string with the parts occupying their initial position as disclosed in Fig. 1. The upper sleeve'valve 22 is disposed above the ports I5, and the lower sleeve valve i5 is located in its upper position, with its seals I9, 2a. on opposite sides of the ports. As a result, any fluids pumped down through the casing string will pass through the convergent bores 34, 35 in the upper and lower sleeve valve members to some lower point in the casing string, such as a casing shoe (not shown). from which the fluids are ejected into the well bore surrounding the casing. If the collar is employed connection with a multiple stage cementing operation, a charge of cement slurry may be pumped down the casing string for ejection from the casing shoe. A iiexible top cementing plug (not shown) of the character disclosed in my Patent No. 2,370,833 may be used at the upper end of the cement slurry, and this plug will be capable of passing through the convergent bores 34, 35 of the upper and lower sleeve members 24, 25 without shearing the screws 28, 29, the convergent wall of the bores 34, 35 facilitating inward compression of the iiexible or rubber plug.

Following the discharge of the lower quantity of cement slurry from the casing, it is desired to open the ports I5 in the collar and discharge a second quantity of cement slurry through these ports for upward passage around the casing string. A tripping device, in the form of a plug or valve member 35, is pumped down the casing string, or is allowed to gravitate through the fluid in the casing string into engagement with the tapered wall 35 of the lower sleeve (see Fig. 2) This plug is of such dimensions as to pass through the upper sleeve 24, but is of greater diameter than the minimum diameter through the lower sleeve I6, to insure its seating in the latter and its closing of the tapered bore 35.

The lower plug member 35 gravitates rapidly through the fluid in the well bore until the head seal 39 engages the tapered wall 35 in the lower sleeve I6 in leakproof relation. The iiuid in the casing above the collar and plug 36 may then be subjected to pressure of an amount suicientto overcome the shear value of the lower screws 29, disrupting them and shifting the lower sleeve i6 downwardly to a position in which its upper seal ring I9 is disposed below the ports I5 (see Fig. 2). Downward movement of the lower sleeve is limited by its engagement with a suitable stop, which, in the present instance, is provided by the upper end Ia of the lower casing section C.

Cement slurry, or other fluids, may now be pumped down the casing string, passing over the upper end of the lower sleeve I6 and through the annular space 33 between it and the upper sleeve 22, for discharge through the collar ports I5. After the desired quantity of cement slurry has been thus ejected through the collar, it is desired to close the ports by shifting the upper sleeve 22 downwardly. This latter purpose may be achieved by placing a top cementing plug 41 at the upper end of the charge of cement slurry, and causing it to engage the tapered wall 34 of the upper drillable portion 24 ofthe upper sleeve valve member 22, closing the bore through the drillable portion and allowing the fluid in the casing thereabove to be pressurized to an extent sufficient to shear the upper screws 28 and shift the upper sleeve 22 downwardly over the ports i5, as explained in my parent application above referred to.

An upper seal 48 on the steel sleeve portion 23 will be disposed above the ports I5 to prevent passage of fluids between the ports along the upper portion of the sleeve 22, while downward passage of fluids along the sleeve 22 is prevented by a lead seal ring 49 carried by the sleeve and adapted to be forced against a shoulder 50 formed in the tubular member II between its flange 2i and the ports I5.

The lead seal ring 49 is slidable along the wall of the tubular member II, its inner surface being tapered in a downward and inward direction and engaged by a companion taper 5I on the upper sleeve valve member 22. The lead seal is prevented from removal from the sleeve valve member by an internal flange 52 on the ring ritting within a companion groove in the sleeve 22.

When the upper sleeve valve member is shifted downwardly, the lower end of the lead seal ring 49 engages the shoulder 50, which enables the tapered portion of the sleeve to wedge the ring firmly against the wall of the tubular member II and the shoulder 50, preventing leakage of fluids between the lower end of the sleeve 22 and the tubular member. As indicated above, the O ring 48 will engage the tubular member I I above the ports I5, in order to prevent leakage of fluid along the upper portion of the upper sleeve 22.

The upper sleeve valve 22 is held in its closed position across the ports I5 by a suitable latch device which may take the form of a split, in- -herently expansible, ring 53 disposed in an external groove 54 in the sleeve 23 and having teeth or wickers 55 adapted to engage companion internal teeth or wickers 56 formed in the side wall of the tubular member Il. This latch arrangement prevents the sleeve 22 from moving upwardly after it has been shifted to port closing position.

The top cementing plug and valve 47 includes a spherical plug device 56 suitably secured to a standard top cementing plug 51, which may have the usual wooden body 58 and cup leathers 59 adapted to slidably seal with the wall of the casing string. The lower plug device may consist of a generally spherical body 60 of readily drillable material, such as magnesium, aluminum, synthetic resin and the like, which has a screw 6l cast within it. This screw is threaded into the wooden body 58 and serves to attach the standard plug to the lower spherical valve body 60. In order to insure against leakage between the lower plug 41 and the upper sleeve valve member 22, a spherical seal member 52 of rubber, or similar material, may be mounted on the body 60, the upper end of the seal having an inwardly directed flange 63 received within a companion groovein the body. A wiper device 59a, may also be clamped between the body 53 and the spherical body 60.

The combination top cementing plug and valve member 41 serves effectively to separate the cement slurry from the displacement fluid in the casing on top of the plug. The top sealing menibers 59 on the cementing plug portion of the device slidably seal against the wall of the wel] casing B during downward movement of the device therewithin. In addition, the wiper ring 58a also engages the casing wall. By their engagement with the casing, the sealing cups 59 and the wiper ring 59a keep the Valve body 5S centered in the casing and insure its proper location within the upper sleeve valve portion 22, with its spherical seal 62 firmly engaging with the tapered seat 34 in the sleeve valve.

Thus, the combined cementing plug and valve device not only serves to insure the ejection of substantially all of the cement slurry through the casing ports l5, but also insures the timely closing of the upper sleeve valve 22 over the ports, as a result of engagement of the lower valve member 56 in the upper portion 24 of the sleeve valve 22. This action takes place hydraulically as an incident of pumping the device down the casing string, for the purpose of ejecting the cement slurry through the collar ports l5.

The portions of the cementing plug and of the valve member 41 are preferably made of readily drillable materials, so as to insure their disintegration by drill bit after the ejected cement has set and hardened. In this manner, the casing bore may be left free from obstructions or restrictions.

The invention claims:

1. In apparatus of the character described: an imperforate well cementing plug having a packing adapted to slidably seal with the wall of a well casing; and a valve head rigidly secured to and depending substantially below the lower end of the plug and having a generally hemispherical downwardly facing surface adapted to seal against a companion seat in the casing.

2. In apparatus of the character described: an imperforate well cementing plug having a packing adapted to slidably seal with the wall of a well casing; a head rigidly secured to and depending substantially below the lower end of said plug and having a generally hemispherical downwardly facing surface; and a generally hemispherical elastic seal on the downwardly facing of said head.

3. In apparatus of the character described: an imperforate well cementing plug having longitudinally spaced upper and lower packing elements adapted to slidably seal with the wall of a well casing; a valve head secured to and depending from the lower end of said plug and securing said lower packing element to said plug; said head having a generally hemispherically curved downwardly facing surface; and a downwardly facing elastic hemispherical seal on the hemispherical surface of said head.

4. In apparatus of the character described: an imperforate well cementing plug having a packing adapted to slidably seal with the wall of a well casing; a valve head at the lower end of said plug having a downwardly facing generally hemispherical surface; a generally hemispherical elastic seal on said surface of said head; and means secured to said head and extending upwardly into said plug for rigidly securing said head to said plug.

REUBEN C. BAKER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,839,861 Baker Jan. 5, 1932 1,872,855 Walker Aug. 23, 1932 1,882,099 Trouth Oct. 11, 1932 1,910,442 Manning May 23, 1933 1,941,406 Manning Dec. 26, 1933 2,124,710 Pipes July 26, 1938 2,196,652 Baker Apr. 9, 1940 2,197,396 Maines Apr. 16, 1940 2,382,578 Penick Aug. 14, 1945 2,493,650 Baker et al. Jan. 3, 1950 

